The Miami Heat and Boston Celtics are currently battling for one of the bottom spots in the Eastern Conference. The top spots appear to be set with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks, Toronto Raptors and Washington Wizards while the bottom half is several teams under .500. All of that will go out the window come playoff time when it is anyone's game as the Heat and Celtics face off to be one of those two teams in the first round.
The Celtics improved their playoff chances thanks to a nice five-game win streak, but injuries have slowed that effort as the team is once again battling for the final spots in the Eastern Conference. After beating Brooklyn on Tuesday, the team moved a half-game ahead of the Charlotte Bobcats for the final spot in the postseason and getting healthy players back especially Isaiah Thomas.
Thomas was a big reason for the five-game win streak, but an injury has hurt the effort. He started by scoring 20 points in eight of his first 10 games with the Celtics while averaging 23.5 points in his last four. Missing eight straight games certainly held the Celtics back, but head coach Brad Stevens stressed that he believes the point guard will return in full soon enough.
Thomas has thrived against the Heat in his career. Thomas has averaged 21.7 points in his last six games against Miami, his best against any opponent. The Celtics could use those numbers as the battle to remain in playoff contention, but Miami is always looking to jump the rankings in the final games after dropping the first two games on a four-game road trip. The Celtics could use Evan Turner as their x-factor in this game after he has averaged 19.7 points per game on 57.8 percent shooting in his last three games.
Miami is coming off a loss to the Milwaukee Bucks where Khris Middleton knocked in a buzzer-beat 3-point shot. Dwyane Wade had 21 points in the win, an improvement after finishing with just 12 against the Oklahoma City Thunder. HE was averaging 28.7 points per game and needs to get back to that quickly.
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